A new breakfast

Finely slice green onions or shallots. Brine under salt and lemon juice for several hours if possible.

Place eggs in poacher. Add a drop of balsamic glaze to each egg and sprinkle with seasoned salt. Poach 5-6 minutes until yolks are still slightly runny.

Toast your bread of choice and spread with Applewood Farms Apple Butter. Place poached eggs on toast slices and top with a thin slice of BellaVitano Cheese (I used the balsamic BellaVitano) and a little bit of the lemon brined onions.

Yum.

May Morning Breakfast

Pat told me I had to write this one down. Otherwise I forget what I did and can't do it again.


Lightly toasted English Muffin, lightly buttered and lightly spread with sweet hot pepper jelly. Top with poached egg infused with a drop of Balsamic Glaze and sprinkled with seasoned salt before cooking. Top with chopped cherry tomato, lemon thyme, chili pepper flakes salsa. Grind some fresh black pepper over top. Drizzle with sauce made with equal parts Dijon Mustard, mayo and lemon juice.

I know, I usually post a picture. Sorry. We were hungry.

Another breakfast

So, this was breakfast this morning. Pat said it was quite tasty. If you'd like to find out for yourself, it goes like this:

1) Make some toast. If you've got any questions at this point, perhaps you should consider a different endeavour. Cooking may not be for you. I originally wanted to use a bed of quinoa, but that didn't work out the way I was hoping, so I defaulted to toast. Use a whole grain bread for interest, flavour, and texture. This was flax seed and chia, so it's about as trendy a bread as there is right now. I buttered it. You might not, but I like butter. So there.

2) Slice an avocado. Spritz it with lime, you know, as you do. Lay the slices on the toast.

3) Saute some mushrooms in olive oil and crushed garlic until they are slightly crispy. Lay those out on top of the avocado.

4) Slice a tomato. Top the tomato slices with grated Beemster cheese and place under the broiler for a couple of minutes, until the cheese is melted and the tomatoes are softened. Place the cheesy tomato slices on top of the mushrooms, on top of the avocado, on top of the toast. On top of the house that Jack built. OK, maybe not that last bit.

5) Top that stack with a couple of lightly poached eggs. I like runny yolks. You can cook your eggs the way you like them. I won't judge.

6) Sprinkle with sliced green onions that have been brined for a while in rice wine vinegar and red chili flakes. Lightly season with coarse salt. I have a pink Himalayan salt I like. But, then again, I'm not insecure about my sexuality.

7) Eat. We had coffee with it, but I really thought it deserved red wine. Your call.

Banana Mocha French Toast

Chop one banana into a blender. Add four eggs, and a dollop of milk. Season to taste with salt, sugar and vanilla. Blend until smooth. Heat your pan, and melt some butter in it. Soak bread in the banana/egg mixture and fry. I used a plain white bread for Matt, and a multi-grain bread for me. The white bread was far more successful for this recipe. I'll have to try it again with a light egg-bread, or maybe a croissant - I think that would work well.

When you've plated the french toast, dust it lightly with Starbucks Mocha Powder, and drizzle with pure maple syrup. Garnish with fresh chopped banana and stawberry, or perhaps fried banana slices and mint. Experiment.

Makes 4-6 slices.

Let me know how it came out for you. I had seconds.

Weekend Breakfast

Multi-grain toast, Sliced Avocado, Chopped Tomato, Soft Boiled Egg, Grated Asiago Cheese.

Coulda maybe used a touch of salt.

Served with hot, fresh coffee.

A fine dining experience

I decided to make an Epic Meal Time inspired dinner tonight: Steak and Bacon Tacos!

Step 1: meat.

Chop a fine piece of steak. Chop several slices of bacon. Combine in a bowl. Cover with beer. Add some sugar. Mix well and let marinate in fridge.

Step 2: toppings.

Peel and chop cuke. Chop tomato. Chop garlic. Chop green onion. Chop cilantro. Chop Jalapeno pepper. Combine in a bowl. Season with salt, sugar and lemon juice. Voila: cucumber salsa.

Chop tomato. Chop garlic. Chop green onion. Chop cilantro. Chop Jalapeno pepper. Scoop out avocado. Combine in a bowl. Season with salt and lime juice. Voila: guacamole salsa.

(I chose to leave the tequila out of the salsas tonight. It's kinda a game-time decision.)

Grate cheese. I like cheddar. White or orange, it doesn't matter as long as it's good cheese. I'm a personal fan of Balderson's.

I also put out a little bowl of sour cream, and a little bowl of taco sauce.

Get your mind out of the gutter!

Step 3: meat again.

Heat some oil in a pan. Strain the beer marinated steak and bacon and brown. Strain again, add one cup clear water and one pouch of premade taco seasoning (OK, so I'm lazy). Cook at a low boil for about five minutes, or until liquid cooks down a bit.

Serve those puppies!

Concerning Debcons, and The Great Tim Tam Heresy

My friends, my dear, dear friends, we have been led astray. The path we have been following faithfully, it turns out, is but a maze of deception. We have been led astray.

Let me explain.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was about seven o'clock on a Saturday night. Most of us had arrived at Lai Toh Heen restaurant near Mount Pleasant and Eglinton for our "Taste of Kitai" dinner and Debcon Bright Weavings Get Together. Things were going about as usual. Guy was buying drinks (thank you, Sir); people were renewing old accquaintances, and making new ones; we were all admiring Niel's authentic first off the press editions of Lord of Emperors, Ysabel, and Under Heaven; I was calling Paula on my cell phone... As is also usual at these gatherings, new people were fitting in like old friends. At one point, I wandered over to the other table to see how things were going. Loni was there. Our eyes met. There was a sudden hush around the table - almost a stillness in the room. And then, she said those three little words: "I brought Tim-tams."

For a moment, I didn't say anything. Then, as is my wont, I tried to make light of the situation. "Where," I said, "are we going to find hot chocolate?"

It was Loni's turn to spend a moment in silence. The look of confusion on her face alarmed me. "What," she finally managed, "what ever would you want with hot chocolate?"

I looked around furtively. There were several of the uninitiated in the room. I leaned in close. I whispered, "you know, for the...slams."

She laughed. Not with malice, but with affection. She patted my hand reassuringly, much as one would pat the hand of a young child who had just announced that he doubted the existence of Santa Claus, or the Easter Bunny... or Jesus. "Silly boy," she said. "You do Tim-tam slams with coffee, not hot chocolate."

The room spun. I struggled to maintain my footing on a floor threatening to fall out from under me. "But, but, Thunderchi-, Terry... he said-"

Someone else spoke then. In my condition I could not even tell who, but the words shall be burned indelibly on my soul from this time until eternity: "Paul, Terry didn't drink coffee." At last the heresy was revealed. Terry, Thunderchild, he who preceeded us all, had taught us an alternative Tim-tam slam. He had modified the traditional ritual in order to suit his own, personal tastes and preferences. Our slamming had never been authentic. From the very beginning, we had indulged in a fake cultural phenomenon. Happily, blissfully unaware of the error of our ways, we had slammed Arnott's Chocolate Biscuits using the wrong hot drink. We were like Anglicans taking fake communion, moderate muslim women wearing pants, Hindus eating hamburger. We were heretics.

I welcomed the inquisition. I confessed my sins. I renounced my heretical ways.

I ordered a coffee. Carefully, I nipped the diagonally opposite corners off a delicate chocolate biscuit. I dipped it into the strong, black, unsweetened chinese brew. I drew the warm liquid in through the makeshift chocolate straw. Just as the bitter coffee hit my tongue, I shoved the rapidly softening cookie into my mouth.

Oh.

My.

God!

My friends, the truth was revealed to me that night. The everlasting truth that is the real path of the Tim-tam slam was delivered to me in a blast of mouth watering, soggy, bitter-sweet Arnott's Chocolate Biscuit. And I cannot keep this truth to myself. It fills me to overflowing. I must pass it on. Hear me now, friends. Get up off your couch. Get youself down to your local imported confectioner and buy a package of Tim-tams. Pick up a coffee at Dunkin Donuts on the way home - black, no sugar. And then, my friends, my children, my dear, dear children, and then... Slam those babies!

Hallelujah!

Weekend Assignment #311: Cheese It!

via Outpost Mavarin

Karen says:

Weekend Assignment #311: What is your favorite kind of cheese and why? Do you have it often, or just occasionally?
Extra Credit: Is there a kind of cheese you hate?

Yeah, I'm a cheese fan. A big cheese fan. Last summer the wife and I went down to the St. Lawrence Market and bought rice and cheese. We bought nothing other than rice and cheese, and we spent about seventy five dollars. Mmmm, cheese.

Lessee, in the fridge right this instant we have: cheddar (of course - probably a couple of different varieties), mozzarella (for all that Italian cooking), provolone (goes good on cold cut sandwiches), swiss (no - wait, I just finished the swiss for my night time snack), roquefort (a form of blue cheese {although roquefort's marbling is more green} that I think I will use in an omelet this weekend), Kraft processed food-type cheese-flavoured slices (Matt won't eat a grilled cheese sandwich made with anything else), and Beemster.

I saved the best for last.

Mmmm, Beemster. We discovered Beemster several years ago, and enjoyed it so much we try to always have some in the house. It is a very versatile cheese, going well with crackers or by itself. It also melts well, making it great for cooking. I like to grate it over cauliflower, or put it on burgers. Then there's the onion, bacon, Beemster and lime omelet. Very yummy.

Is there a cheese I don't like? I haven't found one yet. But, you know, I haven't tried them all, so I guess anything's possible.

Pear Chutney

Put about a half a cup of white wine in a small pot or pan. Add about a half a cup of malt vinegar, and a tablespoon or so of brown sugar. Sprinkle in some cloves to taste. Peel, core and chop two pears and drop them in there, too. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until the pear pieces are soft enough to mash. Continue simmering until liquid is reduced enough that sauce is at your desired consistancy. Cool and serve with your favourite pork dish. We had it with garlic and clove rubbed tenderloin. Yummy!

(quantities are rough estimates because I didn't measure anything - I was just making it up as I went)